Sweet Child of Mine
by Malluchan
Summary: Hamato Yoshi escapes the fire that destroyed his home, but Miwa escapes it with him. Disappearing into the woodwork, he makes a new life for himself. (Slight spinoff Lost little one)
1. Chapter 1

Yoshi was on his knees beneath a blackened beam, gasping beneath the effort. The burning wood seared the back of his shoulders with a blazing brand and then he heaved it away. It cracked on the pile of rubble it fell into.

His feet were splayed out on the heated floor of what had once been his home. Between his ankles was the broken body of the woman he loved. She was already dead, this he knew. His heart grieved but his body pushed on by instinct.

His daughter; he had to find his daughter.

He stood, tearing himself away from the woman on the ground, and ran through the flames, listening as hard as he could.

And there Yoshi heard it - a baby's cry. Small and faint through the wall of fire. He found her behind a wall of slowly burning wood, scarred and burnt a little, but alive. He took her in his arms and fled the scene.

Two hundred yards away he stopped and fell to his knees, laying the child on the ground. Tears ran through the soot on his face. The soles of his bare feet were charred, as well as his arms.

But he was safe. He was alive.

Oroku Saki had attacked him in his own home; all for the sake of a woman. A little jealousy, a passionate heart; that was all it took to uproot a friendship.

Yoshi had lost the love of his life, but he reminded himself that he had saved his daughter. What if he had waited a split second later to heave that beam off of himself? Stayed in the fire grieving instead of moving? Still had her in his arms when the fire started, instead of leaving her in her bed?

The firemen must not find him here. Saki had acquaintances all through the law. If word got out that he was still alive then he and Miwa might not have a second chance.

It was time to stand and fade into the woodwork. He took Miwa in his arms once again and stumbled on.

There was an empty barn on the edge of the woods not too far away; it had once held goats and a few horses, but its owners had long ago died, and it was inhabited mainly by raccoons, foxes, and the occasional owl.

Yoshi collapsed on the hard-packed dirt floor of the barn, the scent of livestock hovering around the edges like a ghost. He noticed for the first time that the baby was crying. He had nothing to feed her, nothing to feed himself. No home.

He begged her to stay quiet. In the morning he would go back to the site of the fire and recover what he could; perhaps the clothes dresser had not been touched by the fire. Perhaps they had put it out before it reached the kitchen. And coins did not burn.

From there he would get a train ticket away from here and make a new life for himself and Miwa, change their names, their jobs, change everything. They would no longer be Yoshi and Miwa, no. They would be strangers.

At last the child fell asleep. Yoshi lay awake late into the night, his head swimming.

He must not let Saki find his child. It would be the end of him. Miwa was all he had left to live for.

Silently he swore to protect her. Raise her as a ninja, as he had been raised.

* * *

In the morning he took off early, taking an old feed sack from the edge of the barn and strapping Miwa to his back. She whimpered and he made gentle shushing noises to her.

The fire site was deserted. Signs proclaimed that it was a restricted area. But Yoshi had no time to bother with the law.

He searched through the rubble for an hour. The kitchen held a few items that had not been consumed: six jars of baby food, half a loaf of bread, a jug of milk. The milk he downed; he could not take it with him. He wrapped the rest in the tablecloth and tucked it in beside Miwa.

Tang Shen's body had been removed from the fire. For this he was grateful; now, surely, she could have a proper burial, though he could not be there. And if he had seen her lifeless form he did not know if he would have been able to go on.

He found enough coins to buy three train tickets. Babies went free, he knew; three train tickets could get him three cities away. Then he would disappear.


	2. Chapter 2

Oroku Saki seemed to have it all: a large house, plenty of servants, a rich inheritance. He could fight well. He could very likely get away with murder.

And yet the rich surroundings he thrived in left him still discontent. The jealousy of a man can tear him up from the inside out and deprive him from any joy.

He paced before a wall of mirrors in a lavishly furnished, sparsely lit doujou, and saw none of it. Contempt ate at his heart. He had set out to kill Yoshi, and yet he had escaped with the child, sneaking out of the flames to an abandoned barn. Saki had laughed when he had heard it. Had Yoshi truly thought he would get away without notice? Saki never left a job undone. He had posted his loyal army of ninja around the perimeter to keep watch throughout the night.

Yoshi should consider himself lucky that he had escaped so far. Furthermore, he should consider himself unlucky that Saki's eyes were pinned solely on him now; with Tang Shen out of the way, fate for him and the child would come much harder.

Saki turned as the door at the far end of the doujou swung open and a man swept in, flanked by two trained ninja. The man knelt before Saki without making eye contact.

"You called for me, _Oroku-shisho_?"

Wiry and witty, Xever, the urchin he had rescued off the streets of Brazil, had quickly adapted to life as a ninja. This would be a true test of his skill. With no last name, a man like him would be easily forgettable as he slipped after Yoshi through the cities.

"It seems that my plan to eliminate Hamato Yoshi was not as straightforward as it seemed", Saki rumbled. "He has escaped with the infant girl and is headed to Nagoya by train. I want you to follow him relentlessly. Do not let him see you. Do not touch him. That is all."

Saki turned back to the wall of mirrors, squinting at his reflection, as if Xever were already forgotten. As the man was escorted back out of the room, Saki turned to him again.

"Xever?"

"Yes, _Oroku-shisho_?"

"Do not fail me, or you will find your head rolling from your shoulders."

"_Hai, Oroku-shisho_." Xever bowed to him respectfully and exited the room.

* * *

The train to Nagoya exited the station with a painful groaning of wheels. Miwa howled and Yoshi shushed her, covering her ears protectively until the train settled into a steady rhythm of rolling wheels and flashing scenery. At last she quieted, but he felt worried; he had no formula for her, and there was none to be found on the train. He counted silently in his head; they may have to stop in Nagoya for a time so he could buy supplies and replenish their cash.

He passed a hand over his face and calmed himself. There was no need to worry; he had had no trouble on the way to the train station. Miwa was not yet beginning to get frustrated. And Saki did not know they had escaped.

Yoshi, like the other passengers on the train, had not noticed the significance of the tall dark-skinned man hovering in the edges of his vision, nor spared him a second glance. Xever glanced out at the man with the baby from beneath hooded eyelids. Though by normal reasoning he should have stood out from the fairer-skinned folk around him, instead he sank to the background like a shadow.

He settled down across the aisle and a few seats down from the man and his child. It gave him a good view without being seen himself.

Yoshi leaned his head against the windowpane, gazing out at the drops of early morning rain. The glass was chilly, but quickly warmed from the contact of his forehead. The city zoomed by outside, and the baby in his arms seemed mesmerised by the flashing colours. She was silent, her eyes large, and for a moment he saw her mother clearly reflected in her.

Miwa had Tang Shen's dark hair and glassy golden eyes. Sensing his gaze, she turned her head and for a moment he was transfixed by the child's stare; she reminded him so much of her mother.

He turned away once again, unable to bear looking at her. He sank his head back down onto the glass of the window and soon was asleep.

Across the aisle, Xever smiled secretly. Here was a perfect picture of a victim: a man with no home, travelling with a seven-month-old child who had no mother, sleep-deprived and burnt from the flames. He had been instructed only to observe, but he had no doubt that when Oroku Saki chose to strike, he would finish the job easily.


End file.
